Romans 3 – 4
In these chapters Paul looks at salvation in the view of the Law, the Jews and the Gentiles. The first thing he makes clear is salvation is not found in obeying the law or in works, we need to understand that no matter how dirty we get faith in Jesus is enough. In Chapter 3 verse 30 Paul points out that “through the law comes knowledge of sin.” I notice this is not capitalized and therefore may mean any system of “laws” that are in place. Therefore once we know we are doing “wrong” then we become aware of the definition of “sin” in our life.
Sure the Hebraic Law is very complex with “rules” on almost any aspect of life. The “laws” only show us our inability to live well in God’s sight, be it eating or taxes (tithing). Verse 23 & 24 spells salvation out:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
We need to realize that we all fall short and not one of us is worthy. A pastor friend has confessed that where we see someone who is very righteous, he can show a very dark mind. For a while he was addicted to porn. That is something we can hide easily and is often just a state of mind. I can relate to this subject because if I hadn’t dealt with this before the internet I would be in a world of hurt. Sad thing is the state of mind is the key, not necessarily what you are looking at.
I use to read the Sears catalog and be obsessed with the women’s underwear section! And don’t forget the Sports Illustrated I got my mother to subscribe for me, but not for baseball stats but the infamous swim suit issue. I didn’t need Larry Flynt to get my mind thinking of sex, just an image of beauty. It’s something I struggle with often on the internet today, just glad I didn’t have the anonymous ability to get hard core stuff before arresting the urge. Not saying that it’s not there, just make sure I catch it BEFORE I click in that three second window of decision.
Now back to the law and our response to it. Paul makes it clear in the final verse of chapter three that “on the contrary, we uphold the law” because of our faith, not to gain salvation. That is profound when you think of it and difficult to understand since even now churches lay out doctrine which prohibits this or that and becomes more rule based than experience based. Not saying throw out the book and rock, but to uphold living “right” as a Christian.
Verse 7 starts with “blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven.” That can be all of us!! We just have to ask for forgiveness to get it, very simple (1 John 1:9)! Chapter 4 verse 15 says a bunch:
For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
I believe this is more for those who believe it’s the law that brings salvation and not the relationship and love. We all can quickly get lost in the do this for Jesus and start doing works for a greater position. Sure we may have more jewels in our crown, but will that mean anything when it’s worthless? We should do works for our love and salvation through God and not for a better position once we go to heaven. Focus on your relationship with God, from there honorable living will naturally spring because you are living for him!